A mixed bag this week

​Let’s just start with a release today, shall we? The screech finally decided to fly the coop last Sunday night, so bright and early Monday morning the barred owl went into the raptor flight, where she’s spent the past week convincing me she’s good to go—her release is slated for just a few hours from now!

​As soon as she’s out, the red-tail will go in and have a chance to convince me he’s good to go, as well. Then the Coop, after we get that wing fracture x-rayed one more time to confirm healing is actually taking place.
 
Sadly, it wasn’t all good news this week. This Canada goose was found in a yard wrapped in fishing line. The finder removed as much of the line as he could see and tried to release the goose, thinking maybe no serious damage was done, but when the goose beelined for the bushes and hid, he called LWR. Upon intake it was obvious there was some wing damage but it appeared to be mostly soft tissue. The bird was very lethargic, however, and showed none of the usual Canada goose aggression. Because he arrived too late for a vet visit that evening, the plan was to get the goose x-rayed the next day, but he died overnight. His rescuer said some of the line had been wrapped around the goose’s head and he wasn’t positive the goose hadn’t swallowed a hook. 

​People, if you can’t clean up your mess when you fish, stay away from our waterways—all of ‘em. When you leave fishing line, hooks and such littering the shore and/or water, waterfowl and turtles become victims of your sorry, lazy refusal to clean up after yourself.
 
Yesterday a gorgeous peregrine falcon came in with a wing so trashed there was no option but euthanasia. LWR sees very few peregrines—or falcons of any kind, for that matter—so until I pulled him from the box for examination, I had high hopes we could save him. 

​Unfortunately, his right wing was beyond repair. Both the radius and ulna were broken and exposed, and the underside of the wing was nothing but raw flesh and exposed muscle. It looked to me like a barbed wire injury: he was in a stoop in hot pursuit of prey and hit the wire at just the right angle to ruin his wing but not get caught in the fence. The photos below were taken after euthanasia.

​And just today another barbed wire victim arrived—a barred owl. His finders cut him loose from the fence but in doing so exposed bone and muscle—not promising. Nothing appears to be broken but the large sections of skin missing on both sides of the wing will make healing difficult if not impossible. He’s slated for a vet visit tomorrow to see what we can do.

​Folks, if a bird or mammal is hung in a barbed wire fence, for God’s sake CUT THE FENCE and leave it to trained individuals to remove the wire from the bird or mammal. Your fence can be repaired; the wildlife may not be so lucky if you proceed to perform “surgery” in the field with non-sterile implements. Stop and think—and preferably call a rehabber—before acting!
 
And adding to the cuteness overload of one flying squirrel, FIVE—count ‘em, FIVE!!!—more of the little rascals came in last week. It’s a convoluted tale, but apparently a lineman from one of the local power companies was doing some maintenance and unwittingly destroyed the nest in the process. He cleverly used two old light covers to make a makeshift nest, gathered the babies, and headed for…the local shelter. Okay, not a bad idea, as they would call LWR. 

​But this was on a day they were closed, so he then took the flyers to…the area emergency air-evac service, who called LWR. Smartarse that I am, when the airlift guy who called explained the wherefores of them having the flyers, I blurted out, “So what were y’all supposed to do—airlift ‘em to a rehabber?”
 
Since flyers are such social little darlings, all six have settled in nicely together and are starting to nibble at solids now. I leave you with about all the cuteness you can handle for one day: